Betaflight Connector Standard

Draft Proposal for Standardized Drone Connectors

Version Change Register

Version #	Revision Date	Changes, Reasons, and Notes
Draft 0.1	27 April 2023	Initial Draft Format
Draft 0.2	08 May 2023	Added Logo and pinout correction

Introduction

The use of drones has increased significantly in recent years. The drone community has grown rapidly and there are now many different types of drones available on the market. The drone community is also very active and there are many different manufacturers of drones and components. This has led to a wide variety of drones and components that are not compatible with each other. This makes it difficult for users to build and maintain multi-rotor drones. With this increase comes the need for standardization. Standardization will help reduce confusion and ensure compatibility between components from different manufacturers, making it easier for users to build and maintain multi-rotor drones. Standardization would enable easier compatibility between components from different manufacturers, leading to more efficient and cost-effective and cost-effective industry. This proposal aims to establish a standard for drone connectors that will be wildly adopted by manufacturers and users.

Connector Standards

Availability

Any harness should be widely available and easy to obtain. The harness should be available from multiple sources and should be easy to obtain from any source.

JST SH Series as Standard for Connectors.

JST-SH is wildly used and reliable connector that proven to be a robust choice for drone applications. The connector should be the standard for all drone manufacturers, ensuring compatibility between components from different manufacturers.

JST GH Series as Optional Component.

Some manufacturers also use other firmware, such as Ardupilot or Pixhawk, which have their own standard. This connector type is optional for drone manufacturers, allowing them to choose the connector type that best suits their needs as long they provide a harness for both platforms.

ESC Pin Configuration

An additional 2-pin connector for power (ext. power) can be used for high-powered devices or if the user wants to use an external power source.

We recommend using twisted wires to eliminate any confusion about the mirroring of the connector and to ensure that the same wiring order is used on both sides of the connection.

V+ connection from the ESC to FC will typically carry VBAT voltage direct from the battery connection. The ESC V+ connection is an Input Voltage to the FC whilst RX, GPS and other connectors' V+ pads carry output from the FC's onboard voltage regulators.

In some cases VTX or camera connectors may offer VBAT voltage directly but due to voltage fluctuations induced by the motors the use of VBAT direct to VTXs or cameras is discouraged. To minimise the risk to sensitive VTX hardware it is advisable to provide an additional high voltage regulator for such components. Recommended continuous power draw for this high voltage VTX regulator is ~18W, tranlating to at least a 9V/2A part, and output voltage should be between 8-12V.